Guest Column: Marijuana taxes haven’t helped schools as promised

Chris SelleRBC I The greatest challenge faced by public schools in Colorado over the past eight years has been finance. When faced with this information, many citizens in our state ask about marijuana money. Amendment 64 passed in 2012 with a hollow promise of providing funding to schools. To be blunt, the supporters of Amendment 64 did a fantastic job of leveraging public schools as a method to pass their initiative. In reality, marijuana taxes have provided very little financial impact for schools, but significant inaccurate beliefs exists about the benefit to public schools.

To date, the Meeker School District has not received one penny of revenue from marijuana taxes. We likely will never see money for operating revenue from marijuana taxes. The rules that govern the tax revenue relative to marijuana money require that the first $40 million raised annually from the excise tax on wholesale marijuana go into a grant program called the BEST grant program (Building Excellent Schools Today). If revenues from the excise tax exceed $40 million, the remaining funds go into a public school fund. To date, revenue in excess of $40 million has been insignificant. Additionally, no guarantee exists that these funds would provide additional revenue to schools if they become significant in the future.
BEST grants are competitive grants which allow public schools to apply for assistance with capital construction projects. Any school district in the state can apply for these grants, regardless of whether marijuana retail sales or grow operations are present within the school district’s boundaries. Thus, although local municipalities and counties can make decisions regarding the legalization of marijuana facilities in their communities, these decisions have absolutely no financial impact on the schools in those communities.
While $40 million seems like a large sum of money, studies conducted by the Colorado Department of Education have indicated the capital construction need for schools across the state is nearly $18 billion. The $40 million also accounts for less than one third of the revenue allocated to the BEST grant program. Furthermore, the grants require a matching portion from the school district. Currently, Meeker’s matching portion is 73 percent. For the Meeker School District to see any benefit from marijuana taxes, we first must have capital needs, we then must apply for a BEST grant, and we must be awarded a BEST grant. At that point, we would receive 27 percent of the total funds associated with the grant, of which, less than a third are funded by marijuana taxes. While the marijuana funding associated with the BEST grant program is helpful, the resulting financial impact locally is relatively small.
To summarize, no financial change occurs with any school district in the state because of the presence, or absence, of marijuana retail sales or grow facilities within school district boundaries. Our school district has not received any revenue as a result of marijuana taxes. At best we may see marijuana related funds that equate to a “drop in the bucket” if we choose to apply for a BEST grant and our application is successful. While the promise of “pot for pencils” was an effective election strategy, marijuana taxes were never intended, nor will ever provide enough finances, to fix the education funding shortfall in our state.
In spite of the funding constraints in Colorado and in Meeker, we still have much to celebrate in our community and schools. We have great kids and families in the Meeker School District, the adults in our school district embrace their obligation to ensure all students learn at high levels, our community shows tremendous support for our students, and when our focus remains on student learning our children are poised to make phenomenal contributions to society. For these reasons, regardless of funding difficulties, I am proud to be a Meeker Cowboy!

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5 Comments

Your column reminds me of the Little Golden Book The Little Red Hen. Many counties such as yours did not vote vote for A64, do not allow sales that contribute toward the taxes collected due to A64 and do not apply to receive funds that can be allocated from A64 but yet complain that the taxes are not paying for your every educational need. For fiscal year 2016-2017 $105.5 million is expected to be collected by the state due to marijuana sales over half of the taxes collected are set to go to the department of education. The rest are split among various state agencies with a majority of the funding going to substance abuse treatment and prevention, along with mental health services. It is not a bottomless fund.

What about the $200 million raised by taxation/regulation of legal cannabis in 2016?

That’s $200 million that would not be available if cannabis prohibition were still in effect.

This is a no-brainer.

This article is deceptive and Chris Selle should be re-evaluated for his motives. Also, check his tax records to see if he was given a financial sum for completely this op-Ed column. See if that financial sum is tied in any way to Project SAM and/or its affiliates.

You do not get to shun the marijuana industry and reap the rewards it brings. Residents in your county have to travel to another county to purchase marijuana products. And to think you are teaching students.

So, your actual complaint, Mr. Meeker, is that Colorado has NOT sold enough cannabis? Or that you want a better tax structure? In that case perhaps you and your ilk should have taken the time up front to support the movement, instead of now crapping all over it because you’re not getting what you wanted out of it.

“Many counties such as yours did not vote vote for A64, do not allow sales that contribute toward the taxes collected due to A64 and do not apply to receive funds that can be allocated from A64 but yet complain that the taxes are not paying for your every educational need.”